Twist City
Twist City is a 2008 American computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Splash Animation, written and directed by Adrian Hancock (in his directorial debut), and co-written by Laurie Craig and Leslie Dixon. It features the voices of Josh Keaton, Jonah Hill, Kay Hanley, Dan Castellaneta, Jon Lovitz, Hank Azaria, Ben Stiller, Willem Dafoe, and Danny McBride. The film centers on a barker named Evan MacClature, who tries to uncover the flaws in his hometown's democratic government while teaming up with his fellow park employees against malicious control of the city by mayor wannabe Taube Hoolobis. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on November 26, 2008. It received mostly positive reviews from film critics, with many praising the film's humor, voice cast, animation design, soundtrack, and theme. It was also a success at the box office, grossing $362 million over a budget of $62 million. It is currently the highest-grossing film from Splash Animation. Premise Evan MacClature (Josh Keaton) is a hardworking young boy who works at Twitzer Park, a local amusement park established on the town square of the surreal Twist City. When Evan's friend Caesar Applegate (Jonah Hill) unintentionally wins a circus contest and receives the Vanilla Soul Crown grand prize, the citizens of Twist City become jealous - including Evan's arch rival Taube Hoolobis (Willem Dafoe), who plans to get his hands on the prize so he can change the rules of the city with ill intentions. With the help of his fellow amusement park employees Beefburger Bason (Dan Castellaneta), Four-Story Simeon (Jon Lovitz), Mr. Pro Moe (Hank Azaria), and Nezzer Cray Chicken (Ben Stiller), Evan sets out to find Caesar and warn him about Hoolobis' shenanigans. Plot Coming soon! Voice cast *Josh Keaton as Evan MacClature *Jonah Hill as Caesar Applegate *Kay Hanley as Kayla Mobeus *Dan Castellaneta as Beefburger Bason *Jon Lovitz as Four-Story Simeon *Hank Azaria as Mr. Pro Moe *Ben Stiller as Nezzer Cray Chicken *Willem Dafoe as Taube Hoolobis *Danny McBride as Mayor Twitzer *John Hodgman as Evan's cloud father *Ashleigh Ball as Evan's cloud mother *Fred Stoller, Matt Frewer, Jeffrey Garcia and Bill Murray as Evan's cloud brothers Lamar, Geri, Javier, and Benjie More coming soon! Marketing Trailers *The teaser trailer was released on May 13, 2008, and was attached to films such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kung Fu Panda, and WALL-E. *The first theatrical trailer was released on July 18, 2008, and was attached to films such as The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Heroball, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. *The second theatrical trailer was released on September 17, 2008, and was attached to films such as Igor and High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Video game A video game based on the film was released on November 25, 2008 on Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox 360. Reception Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 97% "Certified Fresh" approval rating based on 152 reviews. The consensus reads: "Quirky, colorful, and well-crafted, Twist City's visual nostalgia is enough to keep both children and adults in their front row seats." Box office The film grossed $188,306,411 in North America and $174,419,860 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $362,726,271, making it the highest-grossing Splash Animation film to date. The film placed second in North America's box office with $18.1 million on its opening day (Wednesday, November 26, 2008), behind last week's Twilight. During the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, it grossed $72.9 million, topping North America's box office during the weekend, and remaining #1 on the second weekend. Home media The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 10, 2009. Soundtrack The film's original soundtrack album was released on November 11, 2008 through Atlantic Records. The songs for the film were composed by Marc Shaiman, while the score was composed by Danny Elfman and Christopher Lennertz. Along with the film's musical numbers, some original recordings by musicians including Spoon and The 88 were contributed to the soundtrack as well. Track listing #Twist City (Barbershop Intro) - The Twist City Singers #Twist City - The Twist City Singers #Living in a Downtown Crowd - Spoon #Vanilla Soul - Jonah Hill #Here's Your Chance - Hodgman, Ball, Stoller, Frewer, Garcia, and Murray #Here's Your Chance (Reprise) - Josh Keaton #Easy Lessons - Spoon #I Won't Ever Steal a Soul - Castellaneta, Lovitz, Azaria, and Stiller #I Come from Cream to Sugar - Kay Hanley #That's Where You're Going Today - Willem Dafoe #Twist City (Finale) - Keaton and the Twist City Singers #It Ain't Over Till the End of the Day - Spoon #Kayla Don't Cry - The 88 #To Work #Evan and Caesar #Hoolobis #Soul Parade #The Competition #Cloud Family #The Park Closes #Send Out the Heart Bandits #Hoolobis Screws Up #Second Thoughts #Towerquake #Cloud Nine #Final Confrontation #Evan's Speech Gallery Twist City (2008) Soundtrack disc.png|Disc Transcripts Main To see the transcript for the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the film's trailers, click here. Category:Films Category:2008 Category:2000s Category:Films directed by Adrian Hancock Category:Twist City Category:Films distributed by Paramount Pictures